Morocco’s police chief holds several meetings in Madrid to expand areas of security cooperation with Spain, Germany

RABAT - Morocco’s Director General of National Security and Territorial Surveillance (DGSN-DGST), Abdellatif Hammouchi, paid a two-day working visit to Madrid to discuss a stronger bilateral cooperation in security with top Spanish officials.

Hammouchi, who headed on January 28-29 a large security delegation that includes directors and officials from the central services of the DGSN and the DGST,

A statement of the DGSN-DGST said that this visit came at the request of the Director General of the Spanish National Police, to take part in bilateral meetings to expand areas of security cooperation and enhance the exchange of expertise in various issues of common interest, in addition to participating in tripartite security meetings that include Hammouchi, the Director General of the National Police in Spain, and the Chief of the Federal Police in Germany.

Bilateral meetings to boost Moroccan-Spanish security cooperation

The first part of the visit was marked by a bilateral meeting between Morocco’s police chief and his accompanying delegation, with the Director General of the Spanish National Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras, who was accompanied by the Commissioner General of Intelligence, the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders, the Commissioner General of the Judicial Police, and the Commissioner in charge of international security cooperation.

The discussions held within the framework of this meeting addressed the assessment of the level of security partnership between the two neighbouring countries in the field of combating terrorism and violent extremism and various forms of cross-border crime, including illegal immigration, illicit trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances, crimes related to modern technologies and sports security, as well as a review of the challenges and threats facing the security of the two countries and ways to combat them from a common perspective.

The two sides also praised the level and volume of bilateral security cooperation and the effectiveness of the joint and simultaneous operations carried out by the Moroccan and Spanish security services to thwart the dangers of terrorist organisations and extremists that threaten the security of the two countries.

The two parties also stressed the need and importance of boosting this cooperation in light of the common challenges and aspirations between the two countries.

Following this meeting, a series of thematic meetings were held, in which Moroccan and Spanish security experts and officials in charge of specific security sectors participated, and during which they discussed mechanisms for consolidating advanced cooperation between the DGST and Spain’s General Commissariat of Information on issues related to strengthening joint cooperation to combat the danger of terrorist threats and drying up sources of recruitment and attraction for extremist organisations.

Moroccan and Spanish experts also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in criminal investigation and judicial police and combat various forms of interconnected crime that intersect with the national borders of both countries, especially human trafficking, illegal immigration, drug and psychotropic substance trafficking, and various forms of economic and financial crime, as well as cybercrimes affecting automated data processing systems.

The two parties agreed to expand the scope of cooperation which includes doubling controlled drug delivery operations, creating joint teams to confront various emerging criminal threats, as well as considering creating a joint security committee to anticipate various security challenges related to the joint organisation of the football World Cup in 2030.

The officials of the two poles of security cooperation of both countries also discussed mechanisms to facilitate joint security coordination, ways to advance levels of cooperation in the field of technical assistance and police training, as well as evaluating the performance of liaison officers working in both countries, and the available capabilities to develop and strengthen their role in simplifying and accelerating bilateral cooperation between the security services in Morocco and Spain.

Moroccan-Spanish-German tripartite coalition to strengthen joint security cooperation

This visit was also marked by a tripartite meeting that included Hammouchi,  Piqueras, and the Chief of Germany’s Federal Police, Uli Grötsch.

This tripartite meeting included studying mechanisms for expanding areas of joint cooperation between security services of the three countries, and ways to strengthen tripartite coordination in the field of technical assistance and operational security cooperation.

The talks focused on the need to strengthen cooperation in the field of combating terrorism and various forms of cross-border crime, especially human trafficking networks, migrant smuggling and illegal immigration, and organized crime gangs active in the illicit trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances and money laundering, as well as emerging crimes related to cyber threats and cyber extortion.

The tripartite discussions also addressed the importance of exchanging expertise, experiences and best practices to secure major sporting events and provide a safe environment for the success of these international football events, especially in light of preparations by Morocco and Spain to co-organise the 2030 FIFA World Cup along with Portugal.

The work of these meetings was characterized by the convergence of the views of the three security delegations, and their emphasis on the importance and necessity of strengthening joint cooperation in various security fields, which allows for neutralizing and averting all growing risks and threats at the regional and international levels.